Just another day
by LaurielS
Summary: A peek into the life of the Chief Advisor of Imladris. Chapter 4, "The punishment", posted. Summary: Erestor brings Estel to the library for his punishment, but who exactly is being punished?
1. Chapter 1: The task

**Just another day**

Author's Note: This is another story regarding Estel's childhood :), and the first chapter being a short one. I think there are a few stories out there that are similar in nature so I hope mine is still interesting amongst all the awesome stories out there. I hope you will enjoy this story and reviews are, as usual, welcomed.

For those of you who are reading my other story "We meet again", I am really sorry but I am stuck. I guess I'm not that good at writing that type of story...but I should be writing the last chapter soon.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, only my own ideas.

**Chapter 1: The task**

It might still be dark and it might be cold, but it wasn't going to stop our dear chief advisor (and part-time butler to Elrond's household, though he refuses to admit it) from climbing out of bed and starting work. Willingly. As willing as he always is for the past…well, forever.

In case you are wondering why he would do such a thing, you are forgetting one very important fact. He is Erestor, which also happens to be the synonym for "Responsibility" in the Last Homely House, so anything which he feels responsible for, he will do it willingly.

Unfortunately for him, he also happens to be the synonym for many other things, such as "Victim (of pranks)" and "Back up plan".

So on this very typical day, after our chief advisor had his very typical meal, he sat down on his desk and began work long before the sun even came out to work.

The first document he started drafting was on a certain goods exchange tender with a human town. As much as Erestor was a professional at doing and submitting these tenders, he was still a very careful elf and so preferred to draft things out first. Yet as he was drafting out the first paragraph, a soft knock came from his door.

Knock. Ignored.

Knock knock. Ignored.

The knocking was still persistent, but Erestor had no intention of opening the door. Anyway, Erestor already knew which elf was responsible for this nuisance and so, what the elf needed of him.

He had no time for his request. He secretly hoped that the elf would go away. He smiled satisfactorily as he finished his draft and began to write the letter.

However, just as he was neatly finishing up the last line of the second paragraph, the knocking had become so persistent that he was getting a headache from it. Having no other choice, he sighed, left the chair and opened the door.

"Breakfast!" chimed the golden haired elf at the door, positively brimming with happiness despite having stood outside for a very long time. Erestor gave him a look, sighed and took the tray from him.

"Really Glorfindel, there's no need to bring breakfast. I had breakfast. I hope you will stop bringing me breakfast whenever you have a request, actually. Just ask. This is disruptive to my work!"

"I thought you haven't had it yet! But yes you guessed right, I do have a request…".

Erestor nodded and waved him in. Once he closed the door, he eyed Glorfindel suspiciously and gave another sigh.

"Erestor, you sigh too much. You look like we have been mistreating you…"

Erestor raised his eyebrows. Glorfindel stopped immediately.

"Alright, let me guess. Who is it—the twins or Estel?"

"How did you—"

"I'm Erestor."

Glorfindel sighed and shook his head. It was not good when the only elf you could ask for help happens to be an elf who could read your mind.

"Estel. We were supposed to go down to a small pool I just found yesterday, but the twins are going hunting, so…" trailed off Glorfindel rather guiltily.

"Okay," Erestor accepted, "but I have a condition."

Glorfindel, having suddenly felt a burden lifting from his mind, beamed and nodded, "I'll agree to anything!"

Erestor smiled craftily. "Two bottles of Miruvor."

"What?! No way…how do you know I just received them… I hid them so well I don't think even Elrond realized…" Glorfindel said, a little downcast at the thought of having to lose two bottles of Miruvor over a small child.

"You are talking to the person partly in charge of the trading path in Rivendell. Two bottles or nothing." Erestor said smugly. There was no room for bargain, and either way, Glorfindel was on the losing end.

Glorfindel sighed. "Alright, two bottles…"

-To be continued-

Reviews and Comments are highly appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2: And the day begins

**Just another day**

Author's Note: Here's the next chapter :) A little late and a little short, but I hope it is not too bad... (to tell the truth, the chapters were not that short until I revised the story and broke it up into chapters) Reviews and comments are highly appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or anything, except my own ideas.

**Chapter 2: And the day begins**

Erestor tip toed into the room, careful not to disturb the small boy who was still soundly asleep in his bed. Just as he was about to sit down on a chair and start reading, the little boy, who had seemed so innocent and peaceful just now, suddenly woke up and pounced upon him.

"'RESTOR!"

Erestor sighed as he looked at the young child, who was looking up at him from his lap, as if anticipating something. When the child realized that Erestor seemed to have nothing for him, he sat down properly back on his bed and asked where Glorfindel was.

"Glorfindel is busy today, Estel. I have come to keep you company," explained Erestor.

Much as Erestor is one of the most feared of elves by elflings and children (mainly because of his solemn look), Erestor never seemed to be able to intimidate Estel. This would be a good thing for Erestor, if not for the fact that the child, having almost no fear of the chief councilor of Imladris (or of anyone, actually), can and usually do disturb Erestor, even when he is at work.

And so, instead of looking downcast like most elflings (including the twins) would be when being told that they would be taken care of by Erestor, Estel brightened up and beamed more widely.

"That's great!"

With that, the child scrambled off the bed and stumbled his way through the toys lying messily about on the floor into the bathroom to get himself dressed and ready. Erestor rummaged through the cupboard (which Estel had managed to make messy for some reason) and gave him a straight brown tunic, which Estel happily accepted. As the child was getting himself ready, our wonderful chief advisor could no longer stand the messy room and started picking up the toys.

He might have even started cleaning up the cupboard if Estel had not finished dressing up.

Estel, like the child he was, took no notice of the change in the state of the room and, without a word of thanks, bounced towards Erestor and dragged him into the dining room, where a huge breakfast was prepared for him (courtesy of Erestor and the cooks). Estel, being still only about 4 years old, started attacking the food as if he had not eaten for the past week, not caring a bit about his dining etiquette.

And this, snickered Erestor to himself, is the future King of Gondor…

Suddenly, Estel stopped stuffing food into his mouth and gazed at Erestor, as if trying to remember something.

"Is anything the matter, Estel?"

"Mm mmhm mmhmm mm mmm—"

"Estel, swallow and speak."

Estel quickly swallowed the mouthful of food and said quickly, eyes averting Erestor's gaze a little, " I-left-something-in-Dan-and-Ro's-room-can-you-help -me-take-it?"

Erestor squinted his eyes and looked suspiciously at Estel, who had again taken up his cutlery and continued to stuff food in his mouth hungrily. Well, the little child had spoken, and he would do it.

With a sigh, he left the dining room and proceeded to the twins' room. As Estel saw Erestor leaving the room, he rushed out of the dining room and escaped.

No, he might be small, but he was not stupid enough to face Erestor if he falls into the trap.

**-To be continued-**


	3. Chapter 3: Of traps and hideouts

**Just another day**

Author's Note: Here's the next chapter, which is longer than the previous two :) Hope you will enjoy it! Reviews and comments are, as usual, welcomed; and of course, thanks to all those who reviewed, favourite-d, or followed the story :)

To Quiet Hiker: Thanks so much for pointing it out! I guess I wanted to make it something like Erestor knowing Glorfindel so well that he can predict what the other is thinking, especially since (I believe) both of them have known and possibly worked with each other for a remarkably long time.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or anything, just my own ideas :)

**Chapter 3: Of traps and hideouts**

By the time Erestor reached the twins' bedroom, he had already collected a handful of pebbles in his hand.

He was not going to fall into any tricks.

As he stood at the corridor outside the twins' bedroom, he threw his first pebble on the door, which bounced and landed on the floor.

Nothing happened.

Erestor took the step forward and collected the pebble. He ran stealthily to the door with his back against the door. He then quickly opened the door and stepped aside, in case any pail happened to be conveniently placed on top of the door and hit him on the head.

Nothing happened.

A few members of Elrond's household had begun to look suspiciously at their chief advisor and his extremely weird behavior. Some had even stopped in their tracks and began to look at Erestor, as if trying to hold back their laughter. Erestor, not wishing to make a fool of himself, gave them a weak smile and slipped into the room, closing the door behind him.

Nothing happened.

Erestor looked around the room, trying to locate that 'something' which Estel lost. The room was unnaturally clean and tidy for the twins whom Erestor knew, but, he reasoned, it could also be because the twins had finally grown up.

Erestor scanned the room once more and saw a small horse plushie peaking out from under Elladan's table. Erestor had no time to think twice and grabbed the plushie.

It was the worst decision of his day.

Unbeknownst to him, the plushie was tied to a series of machines which, to cut the story short, will end up in a big fat honey pie dropping on Erestor's head, leaving his long, silky black hair sticky.

And so there Erestor was, standing in the middle of the room, his own clothes and hair dripping with honey, his hand still clutching the plushie and seething with anger.

But of course, he is Erestor, one of the most long suffering servants of the house (though he refuses to admit this) and quickly regained his posture. He took the plushie, left the room at that state (because the twins deserved it, thought Erestor) and went into his room.

By the time he was done cleaning himself and getting all the honey out, he had already spent almost an entire hour in the bathroom. And, as Erestor is about to find out, Estel was gone.

* * *

Estel was missing.

ESTEL WAS MISSING.

Erestor's first reaction: panic. However, that did not last long (he had, after all, taken care of the twins before), and before long, he found clues as to where Estel went.

Thanks (ironically) to honey.

Estel, having had honey cakes (dripping with warm luscious honey) for breakfast, had forgotten to clean his hands well and ended up dripping honey everywhere he went. Although his breakfast had been cleared, his prints on the door and railings remained.

Erestor smiled satisfactorily and followed the honey prints.

* * *

Little Estel had been hiding for hours.

Or so it seemed to him.

He would have wished to grab a few more honey cakes before fleeing to the garden, but he realized that carrying honey cakes whilst running would seriously slow down his speed, and he would certainly not wish to get caught by Erestor whilst on the way to his hiding place.

And so there he had been, in the small hole under an ancient oak tree, sitting very still for 'eternity'.

To tell the truth, Erestor had not been away for a very long time. Yes, he cared for his appearance alright, but not so much such that he would spend hours making himself look perfect.

He had only been gone for an hour.

And Estel was already fidgeting in the little hole.

It was getting really hot in there (it being close to summer did not help matters at all) and Estel was getting really bored. He had even thought about coming out of the hole and giving himself up to Erestor, but memories of Erestor punishing the twins so severely ("Reorder the ENTIRE library, Erestor?") still made him reluctant about admitting his mistake voluntarily.

"Estel?"

Estel stiffened and backed into the hole further.

* * *

"Estel?"

Erestor was standing under an oak tree, looking around.

He was quite sure that Estel was nearby. He had followed the honey prints all the way from the dining room to the oak tree, where it suddenly disappeared. Moreover, he had spotted a honey handprint near the base of the oak tree that could belong only to Estel that was fresh.

All the evidence pointed to Estel being somewhere near this oak tree.

At this, Erestor swore secretly to himself. He knew that he should not have picked the brown tunic, especially since it was able to camouflage its wearer so well, even hiding little children away from the adults when they got into trouble very well.

Maybe, thought Erestor to himself wryly, that is why Estel loves that brown tunic that much.

"Estel? You can come out now, I would not punish you severely."

No response.

A butterfly flew around Erestor, before disappearing into a small hole in the oak tree which Erestor never knew existed in the first place.

And thus giving Estel's hideout away.

Erestor crouched down and looked intently into the hole. Upon spotting Estel's characteristic black and slightly ruffled hair, he heaved a sigh of relief.

"Estel, you have made me so worried. Will you come out now?"

Estel's head snapped up immediately.

"No punishment?" asked Estel in his sweetest voice and giving the most innocent look he could muster.

Erestor's heart melted a little, but he felt the importance of teaching Estel not to do pranks on others. After all, it would do the health and sanity of the inhabitants of Imladris no good to have one more person working together with the twins in their pranks, even if these pranks were carried out "to make Estel happy," as Elrohir puts it.

"I'm sorry Estel, there must be punishment, because it is not right to treat others like this. But it would be over quickly, okay?"

Estel sighed and climbed out of the hole. His hair was slightly messy and his hands were still a little sticky from the honey.

"Follow me to the library."

And so Erestor made the second bad decision of the day.

**-To be continued-**

Reviews and Comments are welcomed!


	4. Chapter 4: The punishment

**Just another day**

Author's Note: Thank you to all those who reviewed, etc! Here's the next chapter; hope all of you will enjoy it. Reviews and comments are, as usual, welcomed.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or anything, just my own ideas.

**Chapter 4: The punishment**

"Sit down here and copy the paragraph on Athelas."

To many of you out there, copying a paragraph from any book might have seemed like terrible torture, but rest assure that Erestor here tried his best to make the punishment as light as possible. Not only was this paragraph one of the shortest he could find (made up of only four sentences), it also happened to be a paragraph that Erestor had read to Estel before when Estel asked about the medicinal herbs his foster father used that seemed to treat others miraculously.

Of course, Estel was still only a child then and copying was work, and work meant that he hated doing it. However, he was part of the prank and so he obediently took up a quill and started writing.

A word.

A word was all he wrote before he was distracted by an elfling coming in to ask about a book on archery.

As a librarian took the elfling to the weaponry shelf, Estel followed and started asking the elfling questions. Erestor, unfortunately, was not around to stop him as he had been called by his colleague to another room to examine some old scrolls that had just arrived.

"How do you shoot an arrow? Choose arrow? Hold bow?"

All these questions led to a short explanation the elfling gave to Estel after he found his book and eventually ended up in the elfling giving him tips on stance, bow handling and sparing tactics

And so when Erestor found Estel after combing nearly the entire Weaponry section (for he knew that section was one of Estel's favourite), Estel was all in position to shoot an arrow, had he a bow and an arrow in the first place. The books were also all over the floor, as Estel had practiced a little bit of sparing with the elfling a moment ago.

"Estel?"

"Restor! I am learning ar- ar-…!" beamed Estel.

"Archery. Estel, have you finished copying the paragraph?"

It was then that Estel suddenly remembered that he had a paragraph to copy and he shook his head sadly. How he wished that he had not agreed to play the prank…

"Estel, the faster you finish, the earlier we can go out and play, alright?" Erestor's patience was really tried by the little child, especially as he eyed the mistreated books lying miserably on the floor.

With another heavy sigh, Estel bid goodbye to the elfling and, leaving Erestor to arrange the books neatly back on the bookshelf, went back to his table and resumed his work.

Not for long. Again.

After he finished the second sentence, a librarian came in with some scrolls and started sorting them into different categories.

Estel then was already dying from boredom, and he welcomed a little change to his surroundings. True, Erestor was also doing work at his table, but the work he was doing did not involve moving things around, only scribbling. And Estel had been staring at him scribbling away after every word he wrote and he was getting bored.

So as the librarian sorted the scrolls into different categories and putting them into different racks on the tray so that he can move the scrolls to the shelves easily later, Estel started watching the librarian.

First scroll to the top rack, second scroll also to the top rack, third scroll to the third rack…

…thirtieth scroll onto the top rack, thirty-first scroll onto the second rack…

…fortieth scroll on the third rack, forty-first scroll on the first rack…

"Estel?"

"Mm?" Estel turned and faced Erestor.

"Your paragraph."

"Oh, yes," came the hurried reply and more scribbling on the parchment, with occasional glances at the librarian.

Until the third sentence.

As Estel finished the third sentence and was about to start on the fourth one, an older elf came in and approached the counter.

Estel, as you might have realized by now, has a rather short attention span, and his attention was immediately captured by the presence of this older elf.

No, not that the older elf had any special things on him; indeed, this elf looked just like any other elf in Imladris. The only thing 'different' to Estel, however, was the colour of his robes.

It was light green.

Estel was never really one for detail, but when he was really bored, he would notice every change around him, including the fact that a spider had just spun three strands of its web on the plant on the window sill. He also happened to notice that colour of the plant which the spider was spinning its web on was the same colour the elf's robes were.

This triggered a train of thoughts in Estel's young mind, and he started wondering about dye making, and how the robes were dyed, before finally thinking about why Erestor's robes were black and how his foster father chose the colours for Imladris.

"Estel…"

"Yes?" Estel snapped out of his reverie immediately and looked at Erestor. Erestor gave a short sigh.

"My patience, Estel. Once you finish that last sentence we can have lunch, alright?"

Seriously, thought Erestor to himself, giving Estel punishment was as bad as giving himself punishment. At least the twins could be of help in their punishment, but Estel…he was too young to be of much help, really.

And so, after a painful three hours of work (when the paragraph could have been copied in fifteen minutes), Erestor brought Estel out of the library, much to both Estel and Erestor's relief.

**-To be continued-**


End file.
